State ombudsman visits local nursing home

State Ombudsman Jim Crochet greets Georgia Yaudas as Nell Hardwick, Billie Dukes and occupational therapist assistant Kristen Garcia look on at the GlenCove Nursing Pavilion in Panama City on Wednesday.

Andrew Wardlow / The News Herald

By JESSICA McCARTHY / The News Herald

Published: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 09:47 PM.

PANAMA CITY— An ombudsman is an advocate and liaison for a group of people and the Florida’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program needs help from the community. Jim Crochet, state ombudsman for long-term care, said more ombudsmen are needed and he’s hoping to educate communities around the state about what they do.

“We want to have one ombudsman for every 200 patients, and we’re nowhere near that,” Crochet said. “We want a good, physical presence in communities for our patients.”

He said if anyone is interested in joining the program, they can call the toll-free line regardless of where they live and it will automatically connect them to the correct regional office.

Crochet said the program is mandated in every state and the list of what they do seems diverse, but it all boils down to being an advocate for long-term residents in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and adult family care homes.

“We have a lot of residents that live here in the state of Florida and their families live out of state,” Hering said. “If they come down and find a problem or not even a problem, they just want someone to get an answer for them; we come out and check on a facility and check on the resident for them. We’re here for them.”

Crochet said in the past the program has had an adversarial reputation and he’s found a more collaborative approach is changing things.

PANAMA CITY— An ombudsman is an advocate and liaison for a group of people and the Florida’s Long Term Care Ombudsman Program needs help from the community. Jim Crochet, state ombudsman for long-term care, said more ombudsmen are needed and he’s hoping to educate communities around the state about what they do.

“We want to have one ombudsman for every 200 patients, and we’re nowhere near that,” Crochet said. “We want a good, physical presence in communities for our patients.”

He said if anyone is interested in joining the program, they can call the toll-free line regardless of where they live and it will automatically connect them to the correct regional office.

Crochet said the program is mandated in every state and the list of what they do seems diverse, but it all boils down to being an advocate for long-term residents in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and adult family care homes.

“We have a lot of residents that live here in the state of Florida and their families live out of state,” Hering said. “If they come down and find a problem or not even a problem, they just want someone to get an answer for them; we come out and check on a facility and check on the resident for them. We’re here for them.”

Crochet said in the past the program has had an adversarial reputation and he’s found a more collaborative approach is changing things.

“We work with the providers to make the lives better for the residents, and by taking a proactive approach, we can solve a lot of things,” Crochet said. “Once we get a provider’s trust, all we have to do the next time is make a suggestion and they listen to us more.”

Some of the more common issues in nursing homes include medication administration and, for assisted-living facilities and adult family care homes, include food quality and variation.

Patronis said he wanted to facilitate the meeting and tour because he’s spent years on health committees and learning about all of the moving parts associated with the nursing home industry.

“We wanted to educate people that they (ombudsmen) exist and what they do,” Patronis said. “We can let people know in our service area they exist and if people have questions, they can call them or call my office and we’ll get them in touch.”

That’s why he said he also has facilitated the second annual Florida Government Day with almost 30 agencies so people can learn where their tax money goes and what it does.

Learn more

Information on the ombudsman program is available here or by calling 888-831-0404. Click here for more information on Government Day.